Anomalous biography

 kw: book reviews, nonfiction, science, oceanography, bathysphere, biographies

Naturalist William Beebe (1877, Brooklyn, NY – 1962, Simla, Trinidad) was already a noted scientist when he and Otis Barton made 35 descents using the bathysphere, designed by Barton. Funding was mostly provided by The National Geographic Society.

The descents were made to increasing depths as Beebe and Barton and the diving crew gained confidence in the equipment. The deepest descent, on August 15, 1934, reached 3,028 ft (923m). The dives were made off Nonsuch island, in Bermuda.

Had there been another 253 feet of cable on the drum, they could have reached one kilometer, but that probably would not have changed the title Beebe used for his book about these experiences, Half Mile Down (Published Dec. 1934). The final descent with Beebe in the bathysphere was on August 27, 1934.

None of the items above, except for the Nonsuch Island location, is found in The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths by Brad Fox. It is a biography of the bathysphere itself, not of Dr. Beebe. However, much of the material is derived from Beebe's writings, so naturally he is at the forefront. The painting above is by Else Bostelmann, who painted many of the species Beebe described over the telephone installed in the bathysphere, recorded topside by Gloria Hollister.

One matter Beebe studied was the increasing blueness of the light reaching the bathysphere as it descended. He carried a spectroscope and colored sheets. In early dives there was still a trace of light from above, of an intense blue color that Beebe despaired of describing. Below 1,000 feet or so, however, Beebe would sometimes be heard (by Hollister) muttering, "Black, black, black". He and Bardon would turn the searchlight off for periods of time, and back on again to see what creatures were present. Many of the animals of the deep are luminescent; what appears as a row of blue dots in the dark sea would be seen, with the light on, as a fish such as those shown in the painting. Not all creatures were so clearly seen; several times something large, barely visible as blackness against the black deeps, kept its distance.

The author makes much—more than he should have, in my opinion—of the love affair between Beebe and Hollister in the 1930-34 period, and a later, longer-term affair with Jocelyn Crane. I find it sadly interesting that so many modern writers, supposed heirs of the sexual revolution my generation brought about, are galvanized by supposed misdeeds, when the desired result of the SR was that we all would say, "Who cares?"

After the last dive, the bathysphere was displayed in a few places, including at the 1939 World's Fair, and used by the U.S. Navy to study the effects of underwater explosions. Now it resides at the New York Aquarium at Coney Island.

I read Half Mile Down in the late 1950's, one of many books of popular science that cemented my desire to be a scientist. As I recall, it was in 1958 or '59 that my father and I built a small telescope, which I still use.

The Bathysphere Book has a unique style, similar in concept to the "mosaic memoir" I have been writing about my own life, but my work is much better "glued" together. Each of the fifteen chapters is composed of vignettes ranging from one or two sentences to at most three pages, accompanied by illustrations, many of which are paintings by Else Bostelmann. 

Other painters include George Swanson, who spent about a year on Nonsuch Island. He apparently had plenty of time on his hands, as this list indicates. I find some of these items utterly mystifying; how can a sane person not only do that, but write about it?

Quite a number of the 2- to 3-page vignettes are mini-biographies of seemingly random persons. It takes some care to discern their connection with Dr. Beebe or others in the text.

One later item describes the dive by Jacques Picard and Don Walsh in 1960 to the 7-mile-deep Marianas Trench in the first bathyscaphe. Alfred Wegener's early theory of continental drift had been discussed just before it. But then the text states that samples collected at the Marianas Trench included recently-erupted new crust from the central valley, supporting Wegener's theory. This is clearly a blunder: the bathyscaphe did not collect samples. The samples of nearly fresh lava, collected by a different submersible, were from the central trench of the Mid-Ocean Ridge, hundreds of miles away in much shallower waters (but still a couple of miles deep). They did indeed support sea-floor spreading, a key part of Wegener's theory.

In spite of the very choppy nature of the book, it is mostly quite enjoyable to read. However, I would recommend a first reading of Half Mile Down, which is still available in reprint.